Neutral attack

A neutral attack (弱攻撃), often referred to as a jab (and officially standard attack or weak attack before Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), is the most basic attack a character can perform. It is performed by pressing the attack button while standing on the ground, with no input from the control stick. Typically, neutral attacks are fast, short-ranged, weak attacks meant for easy close-range punishes or escaping pressure.

Almost all neutral attacks in the series are natural combos: a type of attack with multiple stages which lead directly into each other. Just after the first attack is thrown, pressing the attack button again – regardless of whether the first attack connected – will result in an immediate follow-up attack. Certain natural combos also have a third stage, with a few that have a fourth stage. Mario's iconic neutral attack, a simple punch-punch-kick combo, is a well-known example of a three-stage neutral attack.

From Brawl onwards, holding the attack button instead of pressing it for the first hit of certain neutral attacks will cause the character to continually perform the first attack at a very high speed until it hits an opponent. This property is known as consecutiveness, and can be a helpful way to ensure an opponent will be hit by a jab without requiring strict timing. Additionally, when a neutral attack connects, regardless of whether it possesses consecutiveness, the next stages can be activated by simply holding the button, rather than pressing it repeatedly like in the original Super Smash Bros. and Melee.

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Since generally all nonfinal stages of a natural combo have the simple purpose of leading into the final one, most neutral attacks are defined by the nature of their final stage. To this end, there are three types of jab enders:

Characters like Mario, Sonic, and Ness have jabs that end with a simple final hit, launching opponents away. Certain characters with one-hit jabs that are not natural combos, such as Pikachu, Ganondorf, and Roy, fall into this category as well. Because this is by far the most common type of jab, there is not a universally-accepted term for it.

A rapid jab (officialy known as a flurry attack in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) is a constantly-looping flurry of incredibly fast and weak attacks that link into each other. Once this attack is launched, it can be infinitely looped by pressing the attack button repeatedly in SSB and Melee, or by simply holding it from Brawl onward. Despite their infinite nature, rapid jabs can be escaped relatively quickly with proper DI and SDI, especially prior to Smash 4. Later games mitigate this by speeding up the rapid jabs' hit rate and lowering their SDI multipliers (as well as weakening SDI itself), but they instead slightly push the attacker back after landing a certain amount of hits.

The rapid jab ends once the attack button is released. Prior to Smash 4, this causes the character to simply stop attacking – however, from Smash 4 onwards, rapid jabs have a final hit known as a rapid jab finisher that is designed to launch opponents away, and is used once the attack button is released. Since no new button input is made to activate this final hit, it is not its own stage of the natural combo.

Characters like Kirby, Fox, and Sheik are known for possessing rapid jabs.

A choosable jab is one that can end either in a rapid jab or a standard final hit (which, in the context of a choosable, may be referred to as a Gentleman). The rapid jab is chosen by repeatedly pressing the attack button during the nonfinal hits of the jab – once it is launched, it functions identically to the typical rapid jab. Likewise, the Gentleman is chosen by pressing the attack button less frequently, or by simply holding it once the first hit connects with an opponent.

Stabs forwards with a draconic spear arm, slashes with Omega Yato, and then either strikes forwards with Omega Yato again or leans forwards and performs a rapid series of bites with an arm-mounted draconic mouth.

Throws two punches, then a series of kicks with incredible speed. Slashes inwards and then outwards with his wing, then leans forwards while spinning with both wings outstretched to perform a tornado-like series of rapid strikes.

Slashes twice with the Master Sword, then either stabs forwards a single time or performs a very fast series of forwards stabs. Slashes twice with the Master Sword, then leans into a final forwards strike.

Performs a pair of bludgeons with the arm cannon, then thrusts it straight forwards accompanied by a near-immediate flame blast. Throws a jab, then a side kick, and then thrusts the arm cannon straight forwards accompanied by a near-immediate flame blast.

Slashes upwards, then downwards with a bronze sword, then either opens up a fire tome to cast an exploding fireball or rapidly flits through pages in a wind tome to create a whirling storm of magic wind slashes.

Rosalina: Swings her wand forwards twice, then either casts a small burst of stardust from the wand or twirls it in a circle for several hits.Luma: Throws a jab, then kicks, and then either performs a backflipping kick or leans forwards while rapidly spinning for several hits, ending with a headbutt.

Pikachu, Pichu, and Isabelle all have incredibly fast jabs that hit once and, from Brawl onwards, are consecutive. Each one is easily capable of chaining into itself, especially at low damage percentages. This may lead to the false conception that they are rapid jabs.

Meta Knight is the only character with a one-stage rapid jab. Even pressing the attack button once causes him to commit to at least one full cycle of the attack, leading an in-game tip to humorously state that Meta Knight "doesn't do 'standard attacks'." In Brawl, it is also one of only two jabs in the series to hit all around the character instead of just in front of them.

Olimar's jab in Brawl consists of two headbutts that deal direct damage and knockback; however, the resultant flicks from his antenna have their own hitboxes which strike for extra damage, but deal no knockback. This makes it the only jab in the series to have a damaging hitbox which does not make opponents flinch.

Mega Man's neutral attack is the only one that is a projectile. It also flows freely with his near-identical forward tilt and neutral aerial, effectively allowing Mega Man to fire his Mega Buster while walking and jumping without interruption.

The first hit of Wii Fit Trainer's jab combines a spearhand with a back kick for an attack that hits on both sides of their body, being one of only two jabs to do so alongside Meta Knight's in Brawl. Also unique to Wii Fit Trainer's jab is that the third hit, when sweetspotted at the foot, can bury opponents. It is the only jab capable of burying, or inflicting any movement-inhibiting effect for that matter.

Both Robin's standard jab ender and rapid jab involve the use of tomes, and thereby have the unique ability both to affect their special moves and be affected by them. Arcfire and Robin's standard jab ender draw from the same durability meter, as do Elwind and their rapid jab. The longer the rapid jab is held, the more durability will be sapped from Elwind. If one or both of these tomes is broken, the relevant jab ender(s) cannot be used until it respawns.

Ryu has two different attacks which can be achieved through a jab input; in Ultimate, he and his new echo fighter Ken each have three. For both characters, quickly pressing the attack button instead of holding it results in a three-stage jab. However, the second and third stages of this jab can only be accessed upon a successful hit. Otherwise, repeatedly tapping the button will simply cause the first hit to be used repeatedly, in a modified form of consecutiveness. Both of these properties are unique to Ryu and Ken. Holding the button results in a different attack altogether, which is not a natural combo. In Ultimate, Ryu and Ken are also the only fighters to have proximity normals, of which their jabs are an example. Holding the attack button while close to an opponent results in them instead performing an attack similar to their held up tilt, but with virtually no knockback.

Inkling's rapid jab covers opponents in ink. If Inkling runs out of ink, the rapid jab can still be used, but it will possess no hitboxes.

If the attack button is held instead of pressed during Simon and Richter's jab, they will hold the Vampire Killer forwards in front of themselves and remain stationary. Input from the control stick while the button is being held will cause them to rotate their whip, loosely flinging a short section of it in the held direction. This can destroy small projectiles, and its weak knockback can be used for unusual gimps, but its overall utility is rather limited.

Particularly in Smash 4, Villager's jab functions quite unlike any other in the series. It is a two-hit natural combo whose second hit can be cancelled back into the first hit, allowing for an endless volley of repeating punches. It is also a consecutive jab that uniquely repeats both hits instead of just the first one. Both of these factors may lead players to the conclusion that it is a rapid jab, but this is inaccurate, as it lacks a finishing hit. Its nature as a repeating and consecutive natural combo also means the time between hits can be shortened by rapidly pressing the attack button instead of holding it, which cannot be done for any true rapid jab. In Ultimate, a true rapid jab was added as a third stage of the natural combo, giving it a proper final hit, but its unique two-hit consecutiveness remains.

In all games, there is only one character with a four-stage neutral attack: Captain Falcon prior to Smash 4, and Bayonetta from Smash 4 onwards. Both are unique in other ways, as well.

Particularly in Melee, the third hit of Captain Falcon's neutral attack – a knee strike – is quick, safe, highly damaging, and overall an excellent way to end close-range strings. However, on the NTSC version of the game, it is notoriously difficult to trigger this attack without also using the notoriously slow and ineffective rapid jab that follows it. Because of the difficulty in utilizing this attack, combined with its importance in Captain Falcon's moveset, this portion of the attack became well-known enough to garner its own nickname, the Gentleman.

Bayonetta's rapid jab is the only one in the series that cannot be held indefinitely. After being held for sufficiently long, even if it isn't hitting anything, the rapid jab's final hit will come out with no input from the player, and the attack will end.